Speaking of men in uniform, here's Aguro again. This time he joins our heroes for good, I believe.

Hands off the old man merchandise, fellas.

At some point Jeros and Aguro get knocked out... and Lufia dances. This is just bizarre.

Spell Potion is a stat-increasing item, much like a Tab in Chrono Trigger. I usually hoard items like that until late in a game, then use them on my anointed key characters.

Lufia puts on some sexy heels as the battle for the fate of mankind continues.

Heh, "breast". What a filthy game you are.

Things turn into an episode of The Walking Dead as our heroes battle zombies. However, these are RPG Fodder Zombies, not Existential Threat Zombies.

The smallest Lavos Spawn ever attacks!

::Lavos' theme plays::

DUNNNN-UNNNNNNN!

Bang is a great spell, damaging everything onscreen. For the most part, the battle system is very Dragon Quest like and some of the spells fall into the same molds. Sometimes with the same names, even.

I spend some time in the Ancient Cave, the optional uberdungeon of the game. It nets me this item that sells for a cool 1000 G, but not much else at this point.

STAT UPDATE! My armor is outdated at this point. Haven't really been forced to buy anything new yet, and I was hoping to find more upgrades along the way.

Lufia's weight is worrisome. I'm assuming that number is kilograms. Either way, she weighs more than our tank.

Our heroes walk in on some guy...masturbating.

"Now Jim, there's nothing to be ashamed of. Just think of pulling the ol' pud as, well, practice for the big game."

Next up... more caves! It isn't an RPG without copious amounts of caves.

Caves are also a good place to do some crazy pot.

Reyna is a great game. With that, time for a boss fight.

I like to sap the defense of bosses before fighting them. This was a good strategy in the Dragon Quest series too.

Finally! A weapon upgrade drops. I like when games have upgrades drop from enemies rather than having everything be shop-based.

I get around to buying some armor because having cloth stuff equipped at this point is becoming a handicap. What's with all the Brone stuff? Is it a mistranslation of Bone?

"My younger sister is a vapid whore" says the guy. I did NOT see that coming!

Our fourth party member, Jerin, is an elf who shoots bows. She's mid-tier on both physical fighting ability and magical ability. She also has yellow hair, filling the most important missing role. First, I've gotta rescue her from this seedy gargoyle.

A) You start with a set party (usually one you've chosen) and keep it for the duration (original Final Fantasy)

B) You have a set party and slowly get it over time, starting with one and eventually getting the rest (This game, Earthbound)

C) You have the B setup, though you'll get other characters over the course of the game that come and go in the spots that'll eventually be occupied by permanent characters (Final Fantasy II and IV, Lufia II)

D) You get a variety of characters and can switch between them at will over the course of the game (Most later RPGs, starting with Chrono Trigger and FFVI)

I think I like D the most, though the rest have their appeal too. Onward with the game.

Lufia is a very jealous character, and immediately starts bickering with Jerin. Having another girl in the party is a recipe for disaster! If Lufia is this jealous about Jeros merely talking to another girl, then it banishes all my earlier threesome jokes into the realm of the impossible.

Jenoba: No relation to Jenova.

It always amazes me when I see these enemy groups composed of monsters that should be mortal enemies of one another.

Another tower is climbed, and at the top I fight one of the tougher bosses in the game...

...Dark Ghost. This thing does NOT fuck around. Good thing I upgraded equipment.

...and am probably overleveled, but that's only temporary.

Narrow catwalks like these where you can fall off the tower are one of the hallmarks of Dragon Quest type games.

I place stones at the top of three towers, and we're whisked away to...

...Elfrea, home of the elves. And get this, they love humans. It's sorta refreshing to play a game where other intelligent races don't auto-hate humans.

I like the shopkeepers with blonde hair and shades in this game. They really look like dealers.I like how Aguro is clearly taller than you. It was kind of a social risk for him to go everywhere with 3 people who look like kids eh?That Lavos hedgehog is too CUUUTE!Brone stuff! Should be Bronze. Makes me think of Bronies now though.Weight must be a function of equipment and affect speed. I'm not sure.It's unique that you can escape from these dungeons but just jumping off the tower.Very astute of you to point out this is a Dragon Quest more than a Final Fantasy.

Earthbound (the whole series) also falls into the DQ-category. Not too many RPGs fall into the FF-category, but there were a fair amount post-2000 compared to pre-2000. FFX had a lot of imitators after that.

Aguro is lucky he didn't get arrested for hanging out with tykes. They're supposed to be 16-18ish but their sprites don't look it at all. I appreciate that Lufia 2's characters look like adults.